Myriant: Biofuels Digest’s 2014 5-Minute Guide

March 10, 2014 |

Myriant is building a global renewable chemicals company. Our innovative technology platform produces “green” chemicals from renewable feedstocks that are cost competitive without requiring a green premium. These green chemicals “drop-in” to chemical manufacturing processes to displace chemicals derived from petroleum. We are developing and selling bio-chemical intermediates that provide us with access to established markets representing a market opportunity in excess of $40 billion.

In December 2010, Myriant broke ground on its flagship 30 million pound commercial bio-succinic acid facility in Lake Providence, Louisiana. The company’s D(-) lactic acid started production at commercial scale in June 2008 for use in polylactic acid. Myriant has agreements with Uhde GbH for engineering, Davy Process Technology for the integration of Myriant’s succinic acid process with the Davy butanediol process for the production of bio-based butanediol, and PTT Chemical for the commercialization of Myriant’s technology in South East Asia.

Rankings

30 Hottest Companies in Biobased Chemicals and Materials: #3, 2013-14

The Situation

Last June, Myriant announced the successful start-up at its flagship bio-succinic acid plant located in Lake Providence, Louisiana. Myriant has produced on-spec commercial product at the plant and the Company anticipates that customer shipments will commence soon. Myriant’s bio-succinic acid plant is the first of its kind and scale in North America and has an annual nameplate production capacity of 30 million pounds of bio-succinic acid.

Myriant’s Lake Providence Commercial Facility is partially funded through a $50 million cost sharing cooperative agreement received from the United States Department of Energy (DOE), $25 million from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) B&I Loan Guarantee Program and a $10 million grant from the Lake Providence Port Commission and the Louisiana Department of Transportation.

Globally, the annual worldwide market for succinic acid is estimated at approximately $7.5 billion in new and existing applications. Succinic acid, which is traditionally produced from petroleum, can be used in a wide variety of applications including polymers, urethanes, plasticizers and coatings. Myriant’s high purity bio-succinic acid is made from renewable feedstocks and is chemically equivalent to petroleum-based succinic acid while providing a lower environmental footprint. Myriant’s bio-succinic acid reduces harmful green house gas emissions by 94% compared to petroleum-derived succinic acid and by 93% compared to petroleum-derived adipic acid, a chemical that succinic acid can replace.

Last month, the company announced that it has supplied commercial quantities of bio-succinic acid to Oxea, for use in the production of bio-based, phthalate-free plasticizers. The bio-succinic acid is produced at Myriant’s plant located in Lake Providence, LA.

Oxea is expanding its broad product portfolio of phthalate-free plasticizers with its new bio-based Oxblue product line, addressing the demand for high-quality, high-performing and affordable plasticizers. Applications for Oxblue include food cling wraps, flooring, soft toys and adhesives & sealants.

 

 

Major Investors
PTT Global Chemical

3 Top Milestones for 2009‐12

• Receiving $50M grant from the Department of Energy for the construction of a first-of-its-kind, 30M lb/yr bio-succinic acid plant to be built in Lake Providence, LA
• Securing PTT Global Chemical as a strategic investor
• Signing contracts in excess of the 30M lb capacity of the Lake Providence plant with customers around the globe

Completed construction and commercial start of the bio-succinic acid plant in Lake Providence, LA

3 Major Milestone Goals for 2013‐15
• Initiate construction of a world-scale bio-succinic acid plant and sign customer contracts for its entire 140M/lb/yr capacity
• Advance bio-acrylic program to pilot stage and sign corporate partner

Business Model:

Build-own-operate, with opportunistic partnerships and joint-ventures, when appropriate

Competitive Edge(s):
• First commercial plant fully funded and on track for a planned commercial start in Q1’13. First plant fully contracted, with signed customer contracts and demonstrated customer demand in excess of 30M/lb nameplate capacity.
• Commercialized product:
• Validated proprietary technology with low carbon footprint:
• Demonstrated ability to successfully scale and commercialize the technology platform
• Low-cost producer of sustainable and profitable unit level economics:
• Feedstock flexible:
• Strategic relationships established with leaders in the fields of chemicals, process technology, and engineering
• Experienced team with a demonstrated track record of building commercial scale plants and executing against business plans to build value for shareholders.

Research, or Manufacturing Partnerships or Alliances.
• Davy Process Technology: Integrate and provide process guarantees for BDO
• Uhde ThyssenKrupp: Technology validation and process guarantees/EPC wrap
• PTT Global Chemical: Strategic investor; investigating feasibility of a joint venture to build a bio-succinic acid plant in southeast Asia
• BlueStar: MOU for 220M lb succinic acid plant
• Showa Denko: Succinic acid customer for the production of PBS
• Sojitz: Exclusive marketing partner in Japan, Greater China and Korea

Stage 
Commercial – D(-) lactic acid and bio-succinic acid
Development – bio-acrylic
Research – bio-muconic

Company website

Project information

Lake Providence, Louisiana

Materials or products produced: Bio-succinic Acid

Capacity (Millions of US gallons per years): 30M lbs/yr

Year, month in service (planned or projected): 1Q’13

Status: Under construction

Feedstock: Flexible

Processing technology (e.g. advanced fermentation, enzymatic hydrolysis): Single Step Fermentation

Product information

Myriant’s bio-succinic acid:
Myrifilm solvent
Myriflex for plasticizers
Bio-succinic acid is also utilized as a chemical replacement, intermediate and drop-in chemical (see below).

Product Description:
Myriant’s bio-succinic acid represents a market opportunity of approximately $7.5billion, as a replacement for petroleum-derived succinic acid, as a BDO drop-in for current applications, and as a replacement for adipic and phthalic acids.

Product Applications:
Myrifilm solvent offers manufacturers of adhesives, paints and coatings for carpets, papers, and other products a cost-effective, green alternative with exceptional performance. Produced using renewable, non-food-based feedstocks, Myrifilm solvent has zero Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), is HAPS-free, and odor-free.

Myriflex for plasticizers can be used in plasticizers for PVC or any resin compound currently using adipate or phthalate plasticizers. Based on Myriant’s bio-succinic acid, Myriflex-based plasticizers offer green, sustainable alternatives that enable manufacturers to transition away from phthalates, without compromising performance.

Myriant’s Bio-Succinic acid is one of the two primary intermediates used to manufacture PBS, and is a building block chemical in the production of 1,4-butanediol (BDO). Myriant’s bio-succinic acid is a true drop-in replacement for petroleum-based succinic acid, enabling manufacturers to produce a truly bio-based, biodegradable polymer.

Myriant’s Bio-Succinic acid can be used as a replacement for petroleum-based adipic acid for the production of polymers, esters and polyester polyols, improving the environmental footprint and price stability of the raw material supply chain.

Unique Features

1. Low carbon footprint
2. No green price premium
3. Non-food based
4. High performance

Feedstocks and bio-based content (e.g. “20% soy-based”)
Feedstock flexible technology platform: industrial sugars, glucose, sucrose and cellulosic feedstocks

Parity price
Based on current commercial-scale costs and using widely available industrial sugar as a feedstock, we estimate that the production process for our bio-succinic acid will be cost-competitive with petroleum-based processes at oil prices as low as $45 per barrel.

Category: 5-Minute Guide

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